Malaysia ends 2020 with record high 2,525 new cases, eight deaths - Health DG

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will end 2020 on a jarring note after setting a new record-high of COVID-19 infections since the pandemic began in January with 2,525 new cases reported today.

Adding to the dismay was the announcement of eight more fatalities, taking the country’s COVID-19 death toll to 471 people.

With this latest development, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said Malaysia’s COVID-19 infection tally was now at 113, 010 cases, 23,598 of which are active ones.

“Selangor reported the highest with 1,205 cases, of which 995 were from clusters and COVID-19 close contact screening actively conducted in the field.

“This is followed by Sabah with 299 cases and Melaka with 239," he said in a statement here today.

Dr Noor Hisham, however, said a total of 1,481 recovered cases were recorded today, bringing the total number of recoveries so far to 88,941 cases.

To date, there are 131 cases being treated at the intensive care unit, 60 of them intubated, Dr Noor Hisham said.

He said Kuala Lumpur recorded 222 cases, Johor (194), Penang (92), Negeri Sembilan (78) Labuan (63) Kelantan (37), Perak (33), Kedah (24), Terengganu (17), Pahang (15), Putrajaya (5) and Sarawak with two cases.

The deaths involved five men and three women, all Malaysians, aged between 39 and 70, in Johor, Selangor, Kelantan, Negeri Sembilan and Kedah.

-- BERNAMA